A 51-year-old Myanmar national, Aung Zaw Moe, pleaded guilty on September 15, 2026, to charges including forgery and making false declarations. He admitted to creating a fake divorce certificate to secure permanent residency in Singapore and deceive his mistress into marriage, a case that culminated in a legally invalid wedding ceremony.
Aung Cuts Contact with Wife and Son
Aung’s legal history in Singapore follows a decade of domestic complications. He married his wife in Myanmar in 2005, and the couple had a son in 2008. After moving to Singapore for work in 2011, Aung initially maintained contact with his family via Facebook and provided regular financial support. However, by 2019, he ceased sending living expenses and cut off all communication with his wife. That same year, his wife relocated to Singapore to work as a foreign domestic worker.
Aung Uses Forged Certificate to Seek Residency
According to court records, he enlisted a friend in Myanmar to produce a forged divorce certificate claiming his marriage had ended on July 5, 2011. He used this document to apply for Singapore permanent residency on March 31, 2023.
The deception extended to his personal life. After beginning an extramarital affair in 2015 with another Myanmar national in Singapore, Aung attempted to legitimize their relationship. On October 7, 2025, after learning his mistress was 30 weeks pregnant, he convinced her to marry him by presenting the fraudulent certificate as proof that he was single. The couple held a marriage ceremony at a flat in Kim Keat on October 30, 2025; however, the union was deemed legally invalid due to his existing, active marriage.
Legal Wife Exposes Aung During Wedding Ceremony
The truth surfaced on the very day of the ceremony. Aung’s legal wife, who had previously discovered his affair and exposed him on Facebook, contacted the mistress’s father to clarify that she and Aung remained legally wed. Previously, Aung had attempted to initiate a divorce, but his wife had refused. Confronted with the information from her father, the woman confronted Aung, who admitted to the forgery. The woman he attempted to marry later gave birth to his son on November 27, 2025.
Aung faced four charges, including forgery and offenses under the Women’s Charter and Immigration Act. During his court appearance, his defense lawyers argued that his long-term separation from his wife in Myanmar had led to an estrangement, attempting to characterize the mistress as his “wife” who had forgiven him. The presiding judge immediately corrected the defense, noting that the relationship was not a legal marriage and that the woman could not be referred to by that title.
Prosecution Seeks Jail Term for Aung
The prosecution has requested a jail term of four to five months for the offenses. The defense, citing the couple’s separation and the support of the woman involved in the affair, requested a three-month sentence. The court must now determine whether the sentences for the two charges to which Aung pleaded guilty will run consecutively or concurrently.
- September 15, 2026: Aung pleaded guilty to two charges, with two others taken into consideration for sentencing.
- October 7, 2026: Sentencing for the case was adjourned to this date.
The judge stated during the proceedings that the state of Aung’s relationship with his legal wife did not justify the use of forgery or his subsequent deception. Both women involved in the case appeared in court, with the mistress expressing that she had forgiven him.